Appliances are known for dispensing ice in multiple forms, such as ice cubes and crushed ice. Some appliances that dispense ice in that fashion are domestic refrigeration appliances such as combined refrigerator/freezer appliances where the ice cubes and crushed ice are delivered through the door of the appliance, such as shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,176,527, 5,050,777, 6,050,097 and 6,082,130. Other devices are known for dispensing shaved ice, however, these are typically stand alone appliances that dispense only shaved ice, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,718,610, 4,745,773 and 5,513,810.
Many shaved ice dispensers require time to set up, clean and stow, and also require adult supervision, preventing them from being used independently by children.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,771 discloses a mechanism for producing only shaved ice in a refrigeration appliance in which a dedicated ice container is used for the freezing of a discrete quantity of water, and which is manipulated and driven relative to a fixed blade for producing a quantity of shaved ice. Operation of the mechanism requires the manual manipulation of two separate pivotable or rotatable handles, which can only be accessed through the opening of a door of the freezer compartment of the refrigeration appliance.
It would be an improvement in the art if there were provided a mechanism for dispensing ice in multiple forms, including each of ice cubes, crushed ice and shaved ice. It would also be an improvement in the art if a refrigeration appliance were provided that dispensed each of ice cubes, crushed ice and shaved ice. It would further be an improvement in the art if a refrigeration appliance were provided that dispensed shaved ice through the door of the appliance.